A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).
A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.
A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
Round 59 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
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Finding water becomes the major problem faced by people in a survival situation. Go without water only a few days and death ensues. Storing water in the form of barrels is a logistical nightmare. They must be drained and refilled annually. Further, you only have as much water as you have stored.
Living in Idaho gives those of us who live here access to one of the world’s largest aquifers. In fact, that body of water lies only 70 feet below my house. The problem I have is getting through the layers of hard pan, lava, gravel, and dirt that lie in between. Yes, I do have a well, but when TEOTWAWKI comes, there will be no electricity to bring that water to the surface. I guess you could say I am lucky water is only 70 feet down for me. Others in the Treasure Valley have to go down 400 feet or more to reach potable water. In order to access this water source, a portable, easily constructed manual pump is needed. (What follows is a mildly technical description of the principles employed by this pump. If this does not interest you, skip down to the assembly of the pump).
Technical Description of Manual Pump
Typical hand pumps can only pump water up from about 33 feet (14.7 psi or 1 atmosphere). Pumping water further than that pulls the dissolved air out of the water and creates bubbles. An example of this can be seen when a nurse draws medication out of a vial. Air always ends up in the syringe even though the needle remains submerged in the solution in the vial. This is due to the negative pressure being applied by the syringe. Where the air in the solution is dissolved at a higher pressure than what exists inside the syringe a natural gradient causes the dissolved gases to boil out. (This is also similar to what happens when a can of soda foams up. If the pressure outside of the open can was higher than the pressure with which the gas was dissolved in the soda, no fizzing would occur.)
So, the problem remains; how do we access water deeper than 33 feet? As I have thought about this, I kept thinking that electric pumps usually push water up from the bottom of the well, since most pumps are located at the bottom of the well, rather than pull the water up (unless special pump considerations are made). Furthermore, it is easy to conclude that a pump down at 400 feet needs to generate more pressure to push the water out than a pump at 70 feet does.
The answer to this problem came partly when I was studying for my PADI Dive Master rating. In the physics portion of this course, we learned about buoyancy. This is also known as Archimedes principle. Simply put, it means that the amount of force trying to lift a submerged object is equal to the weight of the water displaced by that object. For example, each cubic foot of seawater weighs 64 pounds. If a 1 ft3 container was placed in sea water, it is pushing away 64 pounds of salt water. Now, if we were to attach a 64-pound weight to that container, the container would be neutrally buoyant. In other words, there is no force trying to move the container up or down in the water. However, if we attached a 63-pound weight, the container would float up or would be positively buoyant. If we attached a 65-pound weight, the container would sink, or would be negatively buoyant.
If we were to consider these principles as they apply to water in a pipe, we would find there is no difference between the principles of buoyancy inside the pipe versus those inside the ocean. Application of these principles implies that in order to bring water up from the bottom of a well, the weight of that column of water (the water in the pipe) would have to be overcome.
For instance, if we had a 1-inch square column of water, the weight of that water would be 14.7 pounds for every 32 feet. Therefore the amount of pressure to elevate water from 70 feet would be (70 / 32) x 14.7 = 32.16 psi. The amount of pressure to elevate water from 400 feet would be (400 / 32) x 14.7 = 183.75 psi.
Let’s shift gears for a moment and consider areas of a circle. Take two circles of different diameter and place one circle inside a larger circle. Let’s make the area of the smaller circle equal the area between the smaller circle and the larger one. Let’s make the circles such that half of the area is outside the small circle and half is inside of it. Rather than going through the algebra to figure this problem out, let’s just calculate the area of several circles:
The area of a 1½” circle: A = ?R2 or, 3.14 x 0.75 x 0.75 = 1.766 square inches.
To make the area inside the smaller circle equal the area outside of the smaller circle, we divide 1.766 / 2 = 0.883 square inches
The area of a ¾” circle is 0.442 square inches.
The area of a 1” circle is 0.785 square inches
The area of a 1 1/8” circle is 0.993 square inches.
Now, if we extend these circles to a third dimension, we would essentially have one pipe inside of another. Because pipes only come in certain sizes, let’s look at this problem using what is available to us.
I feel polyethylene pipe is ideal for this application, due to its inherent flexibility. This means the pipe can be pulled by hand out of the well in one continuous length. PVC, or some other stiff pipe, must be separated length by length as the pipe is lifted out of the well. This means that each section must be connected to each other by fittings, which can fail either by separating due to faulty gluing or by leaking due to improper sealing. The most fail-safe pipe material is the flexible polyethylene pipe. I have included calculations for PVC pipe below, if this material is chosen.
The actual inside diameter (ID) of a 1.5” x 160 psi NSF polyethylene pipe is 1.61” (Home Depot Internet # 205909030). This gives an area of 2.035 in2. The actual outside diameter of a 1” x 160 psi NSF polyethylene pipe is 1.125” (Home Depot Internet # 1000030866). This gives an area of 0.994 in2. So, if we were to subtract the inside area of the larger pipe from the outside area of the smaller pipe, we would get, 2.035 in2 – 0.994 in2 = 1.041 in2. In other words, the larger pipe is 0.047 in2 greater than the smaller pipe. This difference is important
So, by plugging the bottom end of the smaller pipe, it will remain hollow as water fills the volume outside of this pipe. To use our scuba diving analogy, we want the hollow container (smaller pipe inside the 1 1/2” larger pipe) to lift with a force equal to weight of the water surrounding it.
Because the smaller pipe is 0.047 in2 smaller than the larger pipe, there will be a net force lifting the smaller pipe. This would make it difficult to push down the inner pipe to move the pump mechanism. However, if the weight of the smaller pipe is considered, the forces become negligible. Thus, this system is in a neutrally buoyant condition. It will lift the water from the bottom of the well with very little force. The depth of the well is irrelevant.
So, the final solution to our initial problem is the overwhelmingly simple principle of buoyancy.
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Mrs RLB ends her letter with a profound observation: “I am one of those who has worked on a Sunday trying to get some task done, only to be tired all week”.
When I was much younger, I was starting out with a partner in a very small architectural mill work endeavor. We had landed a contract for casework in a school that had to be installed by September first. We were running hard, seven days a week, 10 hours plus.
I no longer recall all the precise details. I do recall being, by the second week of this regime in spite of sleep, very very tired and that we then suffered a series of mishaps as a result, the last of which nearly resulted in the loss of important anatomy.
Neither of us were believers at that time. Nevertheless, we vowed that in the future, no matter what the pressure happen to be, one day off in seven was mandatory.
It was some years before I fully appreciated that God was there ahead of me. And in this matter, as in all others, His advice is always the best available. Of course it is up to me to read and heed.
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“The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all, it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality.” – H. L. Mencken
A Gunsite Academy Three Day Course Certificate, good for any one, two, or three day course (a $1,195 value),
A course certificate from onPoint Tactical. This certificate will be for the prize winner’s choice of three-day civilian courses. (Excluding those restricted for military or government teams.) Three day onPoint courses normally cost $795,
DRD Tactical is providing a 5.56 NATO QD Billet upper with a hammer forged, chromlined barrel and a hard case to go with your own AR lower. It will allow any standard AR type rifle to have quick change barrel, which can be assembled in less than one minute without the use of any tools, and a compact carry capability in a hard case or 3-day pack (an $1,100 value),
Gun Mag Warehouse is providing 20 Magpul pmags 30rd Magazines (a value of $300) and a Gun Mag Warehouse T-Shirt. (An equivalent prize will be awarded for residents in states with magazine restrictions.),
Two cases of Mountain House freeze dried assorted entrees in #10 cans, courtesy of Ready Made Resources (a $350 value),
A pre-selected assortment of military surplus gear from CJL Enterprize (a $300 value),
A Model 120 Series Solar Generator provided by Quantum Harvest LLC (a $340 value),
A $300 gift certificate from Freeze Dry Guy,
A $250 gift certificate from Sunflower Ammo,
KellyKettleUSA.com is donating both an AquaBrick water filtration kit and a Stainless Medium Scout Kelly Kettle Complete Kit with a combined retail value of $304,
TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $300 gift certificate, and
Two cases of meals, Ready to Eat (MREs), courtesy of CampingSurvival.com (a $180 value).
A FloJak EarthStraw “Code Red” 100-foot well pump system (a $500 value), courtesy of FloJak.com,
The Ark Institute is donating a non-GMO, non-hybrid vegetable seed package–enough for two families of four, seed storage materials, a CD-ROM of Geri Guidetti’s book “Build Your Ark! How to Prepare for Self Reliance in Uncertain Times”, and two bottles of Potassium Iodate– a $325 retail value,
A $250 gift card from Emergency Essentials,
Twenty Five books, of the winners choice, of any books published by PrepperPress.com (a $270 value),
TexasgiBrass.com is providing a $150 gift certificate, and
RepackBox is providing a $300 gift certificate to their site.
A large handmade clothes drying rack, a washboard, and a Homesteading for Beginners DVD, all courtesy of The Homestead Store, with a combined value of $206,
Expanded sets of both washable feminine pads and liners, donated by Naturally Cozy (a $185 retail value),
Round 59 ends on July 31st, so get busy writing and e-mail us your entry. Remember that there is a 1,500-word minimum, and that articles on practical “how to” skills for survival have an advantage in the judging.
One of the distinguishing features of traditional Ham radio, particularly shortwave (high frequency or “HF”) Ham radio, was that you generally had to literally make your own antenna. You could purchase transmitters, receivers, transceivers, microphones, and even Morse code keys, but you likely had fabricated at least one wire antenna. In the event of a national disaster, many people may wish to have effective HF communications for medium- or long-range communications, and they may be faced with the need to construct an antenna. Other forward-thinking preppers may wish to gain Ham radio licenses and experience in HF communications and need to put up such an antenna right now. This article will explain two simple antennas.
Resonant half-wave dipole
The easiest antenna to make at home is a resonant half-wave center-fed dipole.[1, 2] This antenna’s length is selected to work well on one Ham radio band, with an acceptable standing wave ratio (SWR) over about a total bandwidth of about 3% of its center frequency, which is usually enough. It may also work acceptably on the 3rd harmonic frequency. Hence a 7MHz dipole (40 meters) may function acceptably on 21MHz (15 meter Ham band).
Unfortunately, a bit of trial and error is needed to make a resonant half-wave dipole. There are just too many things that can affect the actual resonant frequency for any length formula to be guaranteed. You will need an SWR meter (or alternatively, an antenna analyzer, which is a much more expensive instrument) and considerable patience.[3] The first trial length to use is: total length in feet = 468/(frequency in MHz). For example, an antenna made for 7.2 MHz would have a total length of 65 feet. Add a few inches for loops to connect to both center and end insulators for mechanical support. Cut your wire in half (each end is now 234/frequency), and insert a center insulator in the middle. Insulators can be fancy commercial glass or plastic ones, or simple pieces of suitably heavy PVC, plastic, or even paraffin-soaked wood, about 3″ long and 1″ wide with a hole drilled or punched a half-inch from each end. They just have to be reasonably strong, and non-conductive! Run a wire end through the hole and wrap or tie it back onto the wire. You don’t have to solder the wrap on the end-insulators. You do have to connect your transmission feed line’s two conductors, one to each half of your antenna, at the center insulator. Most people use coaxial cable transmission line to feed this sort of antenna, usually 50-ohm RG-58A/U or similar. (This is because the antenna will have a center characteristic impedance near 50 ohms, and the transmitter output impedance is usually 50 ohms also, so power flows smoothly if the coax has the same characteristic impedance. This impedance is simply the ratio of the voltage to current of energy flowing through the lines.) Solder the shield to the wire on one end of the center insulator and the center conductor of the coax to the other. Be careful not to melt the coax insulation and short it out. (Using pliers to create a heat block is helpful). If you can’t solder, you could try crimping the connection. If you need this antenna to work for quite a while, dab dielectric grease or some other non-conductive water repellant on the exposed portions of the coax at the center conductor.
Pull the antenna up to your desired height using suitable ropes. Do not use the coax to pull the antenna up; you’ll rip the dainty coax conductors. It really isn’t important whether the antenna is sloping or even V-shaped (either up or down) within some reasonable limits. If the antenna is more than half a wavelength high above ground, it will send more energy toward the horizon (favoring longer distance contacts). If the antenna is lower, at 0.1-0.2 wavelengths height, it will tend to send more energy nearly straight up (favoring contacts a few hundred miles away).
Now the fun begins. Chances are good that your SWR will not be a beautiful 1:1, or even an acceptable 2:1, at your desired frequency range. One can use trial and error, cutting or lengthening the antenna until success is achieved. (Reasonable lengths can be added to each end by simply twist-connecting them at the end and allowing several inches to simply drop downwards. It works!) A more calculating approach is to move to the lowest legal frequency (on the desired band) and measure the SWR, then to the highest frequency (on that band) and remeasure the SWR. Depending on which is better, you now have a clue as to whether you are too long (better SWR at lower end) or too short (better SWR at higher end). I can, well, remember tediously measuring an antenna to the nearest 1/16″ and then finding it was feet off of resonance! When you are way way off, the SWR is terrible at both ends of the band, and the best thing to do is to add or subtract 2-3% of your length and try again.
Additional half wave antennas can be connected “in parallel” at the center insulator; use creative supports so that the wires don’t tangle and achieve two feet or more separation at the end of the shorter antenna. Google this for more information.
Non-resonant antenna/tuner
A slightly more complicated but ultimately more versatile antenna, which can be constructed in perilous times without any commercial supplies other than a SWR meter, is a non-resonant horizontal dipole antenna with a very simple L-network antenna tuner. Commercially sold antenna tuners are usually fancier, using Pi- or T- networks. (The letter designation is to indicate roughly the configuration of inductors and capacitors when drawn in a schematic.) These tuners are generally able to match just about any random piece of wire acceptably. If you have a commercial antenna tuner, or can get one, they will work very well. If you can’t, a homemade L-network is not as versatile, but it is easy to build! An accompanying schematic shows that the L-network has only two components: a variably-tapped inductor and a variable capacitor.[4]
Schematic of L-network
The Antenna
The antenna is a horizontal (or sloping, if need be) dipole just as above, with one proviso: its length must be longer than a half-wave dipole would be for the lowest frequency desired. Avoid trying to run a short antenna. This is because shorter antennas have lower radiation resistance and one can end up with very inefficient results where huge currents are flowing in lousy transmission wires and wasting a considerable amount of the available transmitter power before ever reaching the antenna. It doesn’t even have to be a dipole with equal halves. In a pinch, you can use just a single long wire, longer than half wavelength, and use a grounded wire as the other half of your antenna.
Transmission Line
Coax is expensive and will likely have high losses or even develop destructive arcs at various matching situations when used with a non-resonant antenna. I don’t recommend it for use with a non-resonant antenna. Simple “ladder-line” transmission line consisting of two wires held a couple of inches apart (like railroad rails) can be used to very efficiently get your transmitter’s power up to the antenna. (You can even use 300-ohm TV ribbon transmission line with good outcome at lower powers, say up to 100 watts.) Try using wire of at least 16 gauge and preferably 14 gauge. Insulated wire is a bit preferable. Use a spacing of two to three inches, maintaining your chosen spacing by using “railroad ties” made of non-conductive 1/2″ PVC short stubs with two holes drilled and the transmission line threaded through them. It ends up looking just like a ladder or a railroad line. The PVC pipes should be spaced about every 6-12 inches, and can be secured either by relatively tight holes, or a bit of insulating black electrical tape, or even a string tying the wire to the PVC. While it looks inexpensive, this sort of transmission line has virtually zero loss, and unless your wires lose all their spacing, is unlikely to ever have a flashover arc!
Homemade ladder-line transmission line
Here’s some nerdy stuff for the more electrically-minded reader; this sort of air-insulated ladder line will have a characteristic impedance of a few hundred ohms and will be horribly mismatched to the antenna, but because the conductors are hefty and the insulator (air) has virtually zero loss, as long as you can get a “match” with your matching network, virtually all of your transmitter power is going to end up getting radiated!
Constructing the L-network Tuner
First, make a variable-tapped inductor. Wind about 40-60 turns of 14-gauge solid wire around a 1 1/2 inch PVC pipe or wooden (not metallic) cylindrical support. Bare wire would be best, but space the wire out a bit so the adjacent turns don’t short out and so you can grasp individual wires with a small alligator clip. You can use co-wound string to set the spacing and then remove it, and you can maintain the spacing with some epoxy glue drizzled along the bottom. Connect a flexible wire to one end of your homemade inductor, and use an alligator clip to allow the ability to short out (and hence electrically remove) any desired portion of the inductor. If you used insulated wire, cut off the insulation along the top edge of your coil so you have a place to connect the alligator clip.
Homemade L-network
The Variable Capacitor
If you can find a variable air-gap capacitor of roughly 250 or so picofarads, that will do for the capacitor; connect it as in the accompanying schematic. You want an air gap of at least 0.01 inches (the thickness of three sheets of paper), or you may have flashover arcs at times. A gap of .02 inches is better. If you don’t have such a capacitor, you can actually make a suitable capacitor by taping about 8×10″ of aluminum foil to one side of dry cardstock or thin cardboard, taping a wire to it, and affixing another 8×10″ of aluminum foil to a fixed piece of heavier cardboard, and a wire connected with tape. With the cardstock kept between the two and sliding the top foil variably over the bottom, you have a fine variable capacitor! I did this as a teenager, and it worked well. Arrange for the wires to be 12 inches or less for acceptably low wiring inductance in the HF bands. An accompanying photo shows a homemade aluminum foil sliding variable capacitor that adjusts from about 40 pF to 500 pF.
Homemade sliding capacitor with cardboard as insulator
Adjusting your homemade L network will require some patience. Keep notes once you find settings that work. Start with your transmitter set for a lower power, so that it can remain on for 5-10 seconds of time without damaging the final amplifier. First set your variable capacitor about 20% overlapped, and successively try shorting out variable portions of your inductor from none to all, seeking the setting where the reflected power on your SWR meter is minimized. (Remember the forward power is probably also changing.) Once you find a possible reflected power null, try adjusting your variable capacitor for a better (lower) SWR. Then jockey the inductance a bit and re-vary the capacitance. Avoid touching bare metal on either the alligator clip or the variable capacitor; otherwise, you may get a shocking or burning surprise! If you get the SWR below 2:1, you’re in good shape!
It is always possible that your combination of antenna length and L network will simply not allow a successful low SWR on one certain frequency, and you find it impossible to get an SWR below 3:1. In my experience, this is rare. However, simply remove or add a few feet from one or both ends of your antenna, and it will likely start to work! (In some instances, you may end up connecting the variable capacitor on the input side rather than the output side.)
Once you find a solution that works, you can cautiously raise your transmitter power, looking for any sign of arcing on your variable capacitor. If you’re unlucky and you have an arc, simply reduce your power below where it happened. Using a slightly different tap on your inductor may also help.
After your have found adjustments that work on each of your desired bands, mark them or even solder in fixed “taps” on your inductor to make it easier to quickly connect to them. To move from one of a particular band to the other may take a small adjustment in your variable capacitor or even a turn or two adjustment in your inductor tap.
Your friends will be amazed that you could make a working multi-band antenna with little more than wire, PVC pipe, a bit of tape, and aluminum foil!
RELIGIOUS, The term church includes synagogues, temples, mosques, and similar types of organizations. Although the IRC excludes these organizations from the requirement to file an application for exemption, many churches voluntarily file applications for exemption. Such recognition by the IRS assures church leaders, members, and contributors that the church is tax exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the IRC and qualifies for related tax benefits. Other religious organizations that do not carry out the functions of a church, such as mission organizations, speakers’ organizations, nondenominational ministries, ecumenical organizations, or faith-based social agencies, may qualify for exemption. These organizations must apply for exemption from the IRS. See Publication 1828, Tax Guide for Churches and Religious Organizations, for more details.
I’m no lawyer or CPA, but to my reading and understanding, based on the second sentence of this paragraph, a church does not need to have a 501(c)3 tax-exempt certificate in order to qualify for tax-exempt status. Having served in a voluntary position with my church on a previous occasion, where such a certificate comes in handy is when the church conducts business with companies, the tax-exempt certificate allows the church to legally avoid paying sales taxes.
Further, in my reading of this paragraph on page 6, I do not see the lack of having a 501(c)3 certificate as a bar to legitimately claiming deductions made to a church from one’s annual income tax return. One benefit of not having such a 501(c)3 certificate is that the religious organization would not be subject to any IRS fines or penalties for having violated the rules under which such tax-exempt organizations must operate.
Reader DF’s letter served a valuable purpose in raising the issue of the restrictions associated with having IRS 501(c)3 status. I hope my research adds to that discussion and is helpful in aiding churches make a decision on whether to keep their 501(c)3 status or not. To my thinking, payment of sales taxes is a minor price to pay for a church to be free of the restrictions on freedom to preach and practice God’s word. – JM in Florida
As you know there are several wildfires in this part of the American Redoubt, with the possibility of dry lighting thunderstorms this week. Currently the Bayview fire is still uncontained, and they are calling for evacuations west and north of Farragut State Park and around Bayview. Clint Cord posted a Facebook page where folks can share information and updates and offer help. There is one patriot who has offered to pick up and board horses for those evacuees who have animals.
AmRRON Operators, be prepared to monitor for news and updates and render communications assistance for the next 72 hours:
Monitor CH3 and AmRRON Simplex frequency of 146.420
Also, in the Bonner/Kootenai County area monitor the following:
Kootenai Amateur Radio Society (KARS) Ham Club repeater at 146.980 (- offset) PL 127.3
Kootenai County Emergency Operations Center (KCEOC) 147.080 (+ offset) PL 100
Thank you, and God bless! – JJS
P.S. – If you are not a licensed Ham radio operator, you can still monitor using a scanner, or you can use Channel 3 on FRS, CB, and MURS radios without a license.
As usual, the American Redoubt stands out, on a map. Note that the shading for Oregon and Washington are both averaged. The eastern (Redoubt) halves of both of those states have gun ownership rates nearly as high as in Idaho. – JWR
This is an interesting series of short videos about Jack Hinson’s one man war. In Part 4, he talks about how the farm families suffered under occupation. – T.J.
July 6th is the 20th anniversary of the 1994 Storm King Mountain wildfire that took the lives of 14 firefighters. Weather changes, resulting in 45 mph wind gusts, caused a modest wildfire to erupt into a blazing inferno, which threatened homes in and around the town of Glenwood Springs, Colorado. Firefighters from around the country were called to assist in fighting this wildfire. We will never forget the young men and women who lost their lives battling this fire:
Prineville (Oregon) Hotshots: Kathi Beck, Tamera Bickett, Scott Blecha, Levi Brinkley, Douglas Dunbar, Terri Hagen, Bonnie Holtby, Rob Johnson, Jon Kelso
Missoula Smokejumper: Don Mackey
McCall Smokejumpers: Roger Roth, Jim Thrash
Helitack firefighters: Robert Browning, Jr., Richard Tyler
o o o
SurvivalBlog suffered the annual holliday hacking attack over the weekend again. Kudos to our hosting provider for helping us recover.
